Crater Love
by MrsAlderaan
Summary: Sakura finally confronts Sasuke after all these years. Second place winner in the "Crazy Love" category and third place winner in the "They Done Me Wrong" category for the BetterinTexasFiction Sweethearts- 29 Days of Love contest.
Sakura stood quivering before a stoic Sasuke, tears already uncontrollably streaming from her puffy jade green eyes. The emotions he engendered within her at the mere sight of him were overwhelming and confusing, causing her heartbeat to quicken and her breath to catch sporadically. Sasuke didn't move or speak at all; his black eyes remained matted and dull, and, if she looked hard enough, she imagined that they took in and destroyed all of the surrounding color. Sasuke's eyes were magical like that. They always contained this ethereal quality- even before he awakened the Sharingan and the Mangekyo Sharingan. Now, it was intensified by the fact that she knew, underneath the glamour, that these were not Sasuke's original eyes. These were the eyes of some former, some dead, Uchiha. The mere thought brought a shudder up her spine. Someone had died to give this man renewed sight. Permanent sight. What was worse… he probably didn't care.

Forcing her mind from the darker thoughts within, she looked her former Team 7 member up and down. He'd filled out since she last remembered. Or, rather, he'd grown. But the pallor of his skin was paler than in once was. Undoubtedly, this came from countless hours indoors. Training. She dared not imagine the possible torture and experimentation that he would've been subjected to under the ever watchful eyes of Orochimaru. Ultimately, she could only come to one determination. The man who stood before her now was fundamentally different from the boy she grew up with. The boy she grew to love.

She shook her head, fondly remembering how rarely either she or Naruto could elicit emotion from their former teammate. Certainly, the condition would be even more difficult to break through now. Sakura knew that she could fix that, though. If she and Naruto could break Sai of his emotionless façade and help him, at least, accept his emotions, she could fix Sasuke- her first love. Right?

Slowly, waveringly, she stepped closer to him, like she would approach a skittish wild animal. Given the few scant interactions she'd had with him since his defection all of those years ago, he'd run away at any moment right? Her letter couldn't possibly bring him back for good. Not if Naruto couldn't do it. They were best friends, after all.

Finally, she spoke, barely a whisper at this point while her body continued to inch forward almost of its own volition. "You let revenge consume you, you murdered your own brother and so many others, you deserted the only place that you could ever call home, and you became a rogue ninja. But, worst of all, you left me."

Again, Sasuke remained unmoved, seemingly unruffled by his past actions. Her voice shook, almost giving out at moments, but it grew increasingly in volume as she kept going, becoming more vehement with each utterance. "You conspired to destroy Konoha. Our home Sasuke! You left me alone to deal with a war that was being waged over our teammate. YOUR supposed best friend! Sasuke, I needed you, and you weren't there. And for what? Your own stupid, selfish reasons." Finally, her voice broke, wracking her body with uncontrollable sobs, and she ran towards him as if to pull him into a hug. Instead, at the last minute, she wound her arm back focusing her chakra in a split second (something that even the most skilled Jonin sometimes struggled to do), and punched him at full strength straight in the jaw.

To Sasuke's credit, he didn't even flinch at the earth shattering blow that hit him squarely and firmly. He didn't utter a sound, even a grunt, as the ground exploded underneath him. He just let Sakura hit him over and over until the power behind the strikes was gone and the tears fell from her tear streaked face to his own, making it look like he was the tearful one for once instead of those that he loved.

Eventually, Sakura stepped away, brushing the dust off from the crater she'd just knocked them into. "Tell me. What could you possibly be here for now?" She spat angrily. "If you've come to break my heart again, you're too late. A girl can only take so much before she gives up. I won't play your games anymore, and I certainly won't be manipulated by the idea of your love like Karin or any of those other girls. If you're not here to finally make something of our relationship, you might as well go ahead and leave now, Sasuke, because I won't have any of it!"

Sasuke didn't breathe for a long moment. He didn't move. He didn't speak. Finally, he stood up. "Sakura…" He whispered as he pulled Sakura close to his body in a loose hug, but what mattered most was that, this time, he didn't let go.


End file.
